Mipcom 2019: The Buzzy Deals That Went Down in Cannes

Variety Staff

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The international TV business convened in Cannes this week for Mipcom, the biggest television market of the year and a firm date on the calendar for distributors and acquisitions execs. Although no one title emerged as this year’s standout, there were deals aplenty on the ground.

Here are some of the most eye-catching:

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– Pathé has teamed with Vendôme Group to co-produce a miniseries retelling the story of last April’s devastating fire at the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. The companies are co-developing the project with U.K.-based Moonriver TV.

– British entertainment channel E4 acquired three U.S. scripted series: NBC’s upcoming musical dramedy “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” from Lionsgate, and CBS shows “Man With a Plan” and “Star Trek: Discovery.”

– PBS Masterpiece has boarded the remake of classic European detective series “Van der Valk”, which is being produced by Company Pictures and NL Film & TV. All3Media International set up “Van der Valk” as a co-commission with Germany’s ARD Degeto.

– Beta Film has sold Movistar Plus’ Canneseries winner “Perfect Life” to France’s M6 Group, in a deal which unusually included both the original and format, for a potential French remake from M6 production distribution arm SND.

– British hosting duo Ant and Dec’s Mitre Television and Stephen Lambert’s Studio Lambert are teaming up for BBC pilot “Street Car Showdown,” in which teams convert ordinary cars and take each other on in challenges.

– “Sky Blue Academy,” an animated series set inside the training academy of English soccer team Manchester City, is being developed by Singapore’s August Media Holdings, the Philippines’ Synergy88 Entertainment and Spain’s Minoria Absoluta.

– ITV Studios Global Entertainment racked up pre-sales for its leading Mipcom drama “Noughts and Crosses” to M-Net in Africa, Russia’s More TV, TVNZ in New Zealand and on BBC First across Benelux.

– Indian streaming platform Hotstar Specials, which is owned by Disney, bought the remake rights to relationship drama “Doctor Foster” from BBC Studios.

– Cineflix Rights pre-sold Australian wildlife documentary series “Inside Taronga Zoo” to Nat Geo Wild for the U.S. and More 4 for the U.K. The 10-part series is produced by McAvoy Media for Nine Network Australia.

– Amy Jenkins, the creator of BBC series “This Life” and writer on Netflix’s “The Crown,” is to adapt Allison Pataki’s “Sisi” novels, based on the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. The series is being developed by Picture Perfect Federation.

– Endeavor Content closed a co-production deal for Glassman Media’s hit game show “Spin the Wheel” with France’s TF1. The deal marks the first major international primetime commission for the show.

– Media Musketeers, the European banner launched by former Apple and Warner Bros. executives, joined forces with France’s Alliance Entreprendre, which took at 20% stake in the company.

– Mediawan acquired a majority stake in Radar Films, the French production company behind “Belle and Sebastian,” one of France’s most successful family movie franchises. Radar Films now aims to ramp up its English-language production output.

– ProSiebenSat.1 CEO Max Conze said that Joyn, its streaming service run jointly by Discovery, will roll out internationally in addition to launching a premium tier domestically later this year.

– With the buzz at Mipcom this year about advertising-supported as much as subscription VOD, Rakuten TV made a major move into that space with the announcement of a new AVOD service in the 40-plus countries it serves in Europe.

– Indian industrial firm Amara Raja Group launched a new content division with thriller series “Curse of the Kohinoor,” which will be directed by Colin Teague, whose credits include “Dr Who” and its spinoff “Torchwood.”

– China Mobile’s Migu Video signed on to co-produce “Animal Impossible,” an upcoming BBC Studios wildlife series from its vaunted Natural History Unit.

– “Brazil’s Boutique Filmes, creators of early Netflix international success “3%,” hit Mipcom with a first full slate of drama series projects, including Nazi hunter thriller “Ratlines,” Wild Bunch TV-sold “Gama,” a portrait of the Brazilian abolitionist, and military police death squad expose “Rota 66.”

– Studiocanal has sold North American SVOD rights on “Vernon Subutex” and “Pros and Cons” to First Look Media’s Topic.

– Continuing to expand in Latin America, The Mediapro Studio has secured co-production from Vice Studios on “The Cliff,” described as “Patagonia Noir,” and sealed a three-year, three-series co-production deal with America TV.

– Dutch broadcaster RTL4 and Swedish network TV4 both picked up Fremantle’s new reality-dating format “Five Guys a Week,” with the intention of producing local versions in their respective markets.

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